Virginia: Polity Style: 1607-1776

10/20 Apr 1606	Sir Thomas Gates and other "adventurers of and for... the city of London" are named the First Colony and authorized to establish a habitation and plantation in Virginia in accordance with letters patent (charter) issued by command of the King of England on 10/20 Apr 1606 (Hening's Statutes of Virginia, 1:57-66)
14/24 May 1607	the colony of Virginia was effectively established with the commencement of construction of a permanent settlement as reported in the account attributed to George Percy (Tyler 1946, p. 15)
14/24 May 1607 - 29 Jun 1776	(First) Colony of Virginia :: Colony and Dominion of Virginia :: Province of Virginia [1]
23 May/2 Jun 1609	Robert Cecil Earl of Salisbury and others are incorporated as a "body or commonality perpetual" by the name of The Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters of the City of London for the First Colony in Virginia (historically known as the Virginia Company of London) and granted part of the territory of North America called Virginia, in accordance with letters patent (charter) issued by command of the King of England on 23 May/2 Jun 1609 as a "further enlargement and explanation" of the grant issued on 10/20 Apr 1606 (Hening's Statutes of Virginia, 1:80-98)
24 May/3 Jun 1624	the Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters of the City of London for the First Colony in Virginia are convicted of the usurpation of certain "liberties, privileges, and franchises," which are declared to have been "taken and seized into the hands" of the King of England, pursuant to a judgment rendered under a writ of quo warranto by the Court of King's Bench on 24 May/3 Jun 1624 (Virginia Company Records, 4:397-398) [2]
13/23 May 1625	the government of Virginia, of Somers Isles (Bermuda) and New England is devolved on the King of England in accordance with a proclamation issued by command of the King on 13/23 May 1625 at Whitehall (British Royal Proclamations, pp. 52-55)
Jun? 1625	Virginia is placed under the administration of a Governor and Council in accordance with a commission issued by command of the King of England on 15/25 Sep 1624, which was delivered and published in Virginia before 15/25 Jun 1625 (Virginia Company Records, 4:562-563) [3]
15 May 1776	a "total separation from the crown and government of Great Britain" is proclaimed by a resolution of the Convention passed on 15 May 1776 (Virginia Convention 1776, pp. 31-32)
15 May 1776	the delegates of Virginia in the Continental Congress are instructed to make a motion "to declare the United Colonies free and independent states" in accordance with a resolution of the Convention passed on 15 May 1776 (Virginia Convention 1776, p. 32)
29 Jun 1776	the government of Virginia, as formerly exercised under the crown of Great Britain, is dissolved in accordance with the Constitution, or Form of Government adopted at the session of the Convention held in Williamsburg on 29 Jun 1776 (Virginia Convention 1776, p. 167; Virginia Ordinances 1776, pp. 5-13) [4]

The charter of 1606 referred to the colony as "First Colony" and "Colony of Virginia", also providing for the seal of the local Council with the legend: Pro Concilio primæ Coloniæ Virginiæ (in use between 1607 and 1652). The first appearance of "Colony and Dominion of Virginia" in the royal commissions of the governors is attested in the letters patent to Thomas Culpeper (1675) who was appointed "Lieut. and Governor General of all that our colony and dominion of Virginia in America." The commissions of his predecessor, Sir William Berkeley, referred to "colony and plantation of Virginia" (1641, 1650). The style Province of Virginia was also in official use, including the seals of the colony during the reigns of Anne and George III (legends: Virginia in America Sigillum Provinciæ, Sigillum Provinciæ Nostræ Virginia in America).
In response to a proposal for alteration of the charter made by the Privy Council on 8/18 Oct 1623, the extraordinary meeting of the Company on 20/30 Oct 1623 resolved not to surrender the charter as proposed (Virginia Company Records, 2:472-475). Accordingly, the charter was not formally revoked (Osgood, 3:48-52), but the administration of the colony passed to the Commission for "settling a Government in Virginia" (15/25 Jul 1624). Virginia was declared "part of... Royall Empire" by a royal proclamation of 13/23 May 1625.
The commission organizing the government of Virginia as a royal colony must have been delivered to Governor Wyatt and the Council prior to 15/25 Jun 1625, as evidenced by their letter of that date addressed to the Commissioners for the Affairs of Virginia. In the letter they acknowledged receipt of "y^e Comissione beinge only for the present, in pticuler, Sr: Francis wyatt..." and expressed gratitude for "his ma^ties greate care and favor," while at the same time lamenting that, having long expected the arrival of a new governor, they instead received a commission continuing the existing officeholders.
The Constitution of 1776 did not specify a polity style, but provided for the issuance of commissions and grants in the name of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The oaths of office prescribed by an ordinance passed on 5 Jul 1776 also referred to the polity as the Commonwealth of Virginia (Virginia Convention 1776, p. 181; Virginia Ordinances 1776, pp. 13-135).